Chapter 41: A Scandal Meant to Spread

That would have been far more advantageous for the divorce.

Claiming he was the one who proposed an uncontested divorce, even going so far as to hold a press conference, yet keeping quiet about evidence of an affair?

That made no sense.

Could it be that Kang Jung-hoon was a good person who wanted to hide Cha Jin-yeop’s shame?

Of course, if viewed optimistically, such speculation was possible.

But is that how marriage works?

They are cozy as can be, but when breaking up, they become worse than enemies.

You have to find and tear down the other’s flaws by any means.

Only then can you get a divorce that benefits you.

Moreover, Jin-yeop and Jung-hoon had public professions.

He had no problem claiming Jin-yeop didn’t earn money as the reason for divorce, damaging his reputation, so why would he hide an affair?

Someone desperate to stir up public sympathy wouldn’t hide such a thing.

People would become suspicious, and Kang Jung-hoon was not unaware of this.

And if the other party was truly having an affair, even if they were sued, even if the trial went against them, the human heart would want to tear out the lovers’ hair and send the spouse to the abyss.

“So essentially, he had photos taken that he wasn’t even going to use.”

At Joo-yeon’s words, Jin-yeop nodded.

“Anyway, thanks to you, Joo-yeon-ssi, things worked out well.

You seemed to realize that man really didn’t know much, which led me to that thought.”

“How did you know?

Did you two talk separately?”

At Noh Young’s question, Jin-yeop shook his head.

“If I had realized there was another intention, I wouldn’t have let him eat.

Joo-yeon-ssi probably would have stabbed him with a fork.”

“I didn’t know you saw me as such a violent person.”

Joo-yeon said this in a deliberately surprised tone, but didn’t deny it.

“Still, you wouldn’t have let him go back in one piece…”

Noh Young nodded in agreement for no reason, then was slapped on the shoulder by Joo-yeon again.

“Still, just letting him go like this doesn’t sit well with me.”

Joo-yeon said this, and stabbed her fork into the beautifully decorated strawberry on top of the cake.

“So, how about this?

I have a good idea.”

For some reason, the fork shining under the light looked like a weapon to Jin-yeop and Noh Young, and they swallowed hard.

Because Joo-yeon’s eyes somehow looked fierce.

***

Ah-reum, an entertainment gossip journalist who had unexpectedly received an email from Esper Cha Jin-yeop, sat in Vibes’ conference room, staring at her laptop screen with a frown.

“Is this real?”

“Yes.”

At his request to keep the meeting as quiet as possible, Ah-reum had even taken a day off without telling her company and come to Vibes.

Not knowing what Cha Jin-yeop wanted to talk about, but seeing the state of the world, she figured that if something was thrown her way, it would be worth biting into.

She had come expecting it wouldn’t be a small matter given his request for a quiet meeting, but this was on a whole different scale.

“It’s not that I don’t appreciate getting something good, but StarCatch isn’t really the outlet for reporting something of this magnitude.

So I can’t help but be suspicious.”

‘StarCatch,’ where Ah-reum worked, was an entertainment news outlet, quite famous for exposing celebrity scandals before Awakeners appeared.

They were known for staying up all night for a scoop, and with their provocative headlines and reports, they were both the most feared media outlet by celebrities and the most cursed-at newspaper.

But that was in the past.

After the Dungeon Break, people’s interest in celebrity gossip gradually waned.

They became more engrossed in today’s dungeons and which Awakener had cleared them.

Of course, it wasn’t that celebrities had lost so much status that newspapers had to close.

It wasn’t that there were no celebrities to replace them.

Look at how the whole world was buzzing about Jin-yeop and Jung-hoon’s divorce right now.

The problem was that for StarCatch to exclusively report scandals like before, the targets were not to be trifled with.

Now that those celebrities were Awakeners, it was impossible to tail and secretly investigate them.

And as long as they performed well in dungeon raids, most scandals were meaningless, diminishing the value of an exclusive report.

Moreover, the material Jin-yeop provided this time was actually something a major newspaper would be far better off reporting in terms of impact and credibility.

It was an absurdly big story for a has-been outlet like StarCatch to report.

Especially since it wasn’t something they had uncovered, but a voluntary tip.

“Is this really real?

It’s not fabricated?”

“No.”

“Then why give it to us?

If it’s about an artifact, Tifone is involved too.

Wouldn’t it be better to consult with them and make a bigger announcement?”

“Will do.”

“So, you want us to exclusively report just these chat logs?”

“Yes.”

“So why split it up when it could be done all in one place?”

If Kang Jung-hoon had indeed stolen an artifact and conspired with a Tifone employee for illegal restoration, it would be right to include the message logs with that report.

Why go through the trouble of splitting the exclusive and share the clicks?

Ah-reum couldn’t understand it at all.

But watching Jin-yeop’s calm expression, Ah-reum suddenly seemed to realize something and asked him.

“Is there something specific StarCatch has to do?”

“Let me hear your answer first.”

“Huh?”

“Are you going to do it or not?”

“…”

“Just answer that clearly.

I don’t have time to drag this out.

I need your answer right now.

The article about the artifact restoration will be out this evening.”

“…”

“If we’re going to publish simultaneously, wouldn’t you, Han Ah-reum-ssi, need time to write the article as well?”

At those words, Ah-reum roughly wiped her face.

It was a troubling matter.

Although StarCatch specialized in gossip, they didn’t fabricate stories.

No, it would be more accurate to say that now, they couldn’t fabricate stories.

Recklessly digging up the flaws of heroized Awakeners and adding MSG wasn’t as easily tolerated as in the past.

Simply put, because they had dug too deep, even with such a good opportunity, they couldn’t just bite if it was suspicious.

“It’s not like you’re in a position to be picky anyway.

If you can’t do it, I’ll have to look elsewhere quickly.”

“Look here, Esper Cha Jin-yeop.

As you well know, if we report something wrong and face backlash, we won’t be able to get back up.

Besides, aren’t you calling me because we’re the only ones who would be willing to talk nonsense for you?”

“Well, I’m not sure.

I just chose a good outlet first.

I didn’t call you because you were the only option.”

At Jin-yeop’s point, Ah-reum bit her lower lip.

His words weren’t wrong.

“…It seems you want us to shape some kind of public opinion, but people might not believe it.

It’s not like the old days.”

“That won’t happen.”

“…”

“StarCatch won’t lose a thing.”

At Jin-yeop’s assurance, Ah-reum ruffled her hair wildly, then closed her laptop as if making a decision and lifted her head.

“I’ll do it.

I’ll do it.”

“You’ve made a good choice.”

“So, come on, tell me.

Besides reporting this, what else do we need to do?”

Now, Ah-reum was genuinely curious.

What could possibly need to be added to content that was already sufficient just by reporting it?

Jin-yeop smiled at her acceptance.

This was all an idea that came from Joo-yeon’s head.

[Jin-yeop-ssi, do the same to him.

Put the affair frame on him instead.]

[Are you saying I should hire someone?]

[No, no.

You don’t need to do that.

You have a card to play, don’t you?]

Jin-yeop immediately remembered the messages Kang Jung-hoon had exchanged with Soo-hyuk, the Tifone manager.

At those words, Noh Young, who had been sitting next to Joo-yeon, fidgeted and chimed in.

[Jin-yeop, don’t misunderstand.

In explaining how I got this watch, I ended up telling all sorts of stories.

I don’t go around telling just anyone, do I?]

[I know.

I already expected you’d tell Joo-yeon-ssi.

You two are trustworthy people.]

Jin-yeop nodded nonchalantly.

No matter how wealthy, being able to casually buy watches worth hundreds of millions, giving them away was different.

He had already expected that what Noh Young heard and saw would be relayed, and he didn’t mind from the start.

He knew better than anyone that these two weren’t the type to spread such stories everywhere.

Besides, even if Noh Young had hidden it, Joo-yeon had her skill, so it would have come out anyway.

[You wouldn’t normally conspire with just anyone.

So there’s nothing better to raise suspicion.]

[That’s certainly true.]

[Have Tifone announce the illegal restoration part, and leak that another newspaper obtained the message logs exclusively.

Don’t outright say affair, but choose an outlet that can subtly hint that this relationship seems suspicious.]

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